Living through winter – and COVID – causes surge in outdoor activities

Sioux Falls put the “social” in social distancing this winter.

Outdoor dining, drinking and recreation surged in popularity as people looked for safe ways to get out of the house amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Outdoor activities are perceived as safer right now,” said Dan Grider, general manager at Great Bear Ski Valley.

Nearly 1,000 people on average have visited Great Bear each day it has been open this winter. That’s a 50 percent increase from 2019.

Grider said he definitely attributes the spike in visitors to the pandemic. People aren’t traveling much right now, which means fewer folks are traveling to out-of-town ski resorts.

He also noted that with fewer youth sports teams traveling, Great Bear gives those kids another option to get outside and get active.

People also flocked to nearby state parks in November and December.

The number of visitors to the Big Sioux Recreation Area more than doubled year over year in both months, according to data from South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks.

Palisades State Park in Garretson also saw a significant spike, with nearly 70 percent more visitors in November 2020 than November 2019. And in December, the year-over-year visitor count jumped by more than 80 percent.

Even people without winter sports experience got outside this winter. The Great Outdoor Store downtown saw a lot of interest in experimenting with a new sport such as snowshoeing or just getting more gear to keep doing their usual outdoor activities in the cold.

“Even something as simple as walking,” said Emily Larson, marketing manager for the store.

People have purchased more warm coats, base layers, snowshoes and Yaktrax, which are special coils that add traction to shoes for winter walking and running.

When it comes to food and drink, Sioux Falls businesses got creative this winter with heated outdoor patio options, tents and even igloos.

And it paid off.

Customers have loved the patio option at JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars, especially the cigar smokers, owner Tom Slattery said.

“There’s a definite need for people to want to have a little breathing room between them and other patrons,” he said.

With windscreens and heaters, JJ’s patio stayed open whenever the weather was nice enough to keep the heat contained.

“What we’ve realized in the process of creating that space is that people really enjoy being outside, even when it’s not pandemic-related,” Slattery said.

The patio also provided more space to fit customers, especially with less capacity inside as tables were spaced out to accommodate social distancing.

Bread & Circus Sandwich Kitchen enclosed its patio with movable walls and overhead heat for the winter.

Patio diners stayed away during the recent cold spell but returned this past weekend.

“Generally, if it’s the mid-30s and above, our patio is pretty comfy, relatively speaking,” co-owner Barry Putzke said.

And Granite City Food & Drink installed dining pods on its patio in early December.

“So far this year we’ve gotten some pretty positive feedback on the pods,” marketing manager Kaylie Cavanaugh said.

“This last week it was so cold, we had quite a few people decide they were going to sit inside again, but with the weather starting to look nicer we think people will start using them more and more.”

They were especially popular during the holiday season, she said.

“I had a lot of great messages come in about the pods, so I think it’s something we will do again next year.”

At Fernson Downtown, two outdoor igloos are likely to be a permanent winter sight after the success they’ve seen this year, said Mitch Torbert, graphic designer for Fernson Brewing Co.

And while it’s still not close to the pre-pandemic traffic, having those two full igloos every night has helped “raise the valleys,” Torbert said.

“I don’t think the success is just because it’s outdoor isolated seating,” Torbert said. “I think it’s in part because they’re really fun to be in.”